1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of and apparatus for producing a rear holder-attached connector, in which after a housing body and a rear holder are molded in a metal molding die, the rear holder is provisionally retained on the housing body within the metal molding die, and connection terminals are received respectively in terminal receiving chambers formed in the housing body, and thereafter the rear holder is completely retained on the housing body.
The present application is based on Japanese Patent Application No. Hei. 11-361555, which is incorporated herein by reference.
2. Description of the Related Art
One example of a rear holder-attached connector, extensively used for connecting wire harnesses together or for connecting an electronic equipment to a wire harness in a vehicle such as an automobile, as well as a method of producing this connector, will be described with reference to FIGS. 12 and 13.
A housing body 41 and a pair of rear holders 42a and 42b are molded in molding die cavities (not shown), and at the time when the molding is completed, slides 43a and 43b, forming part of a metal molding die, are located respectively at opposite sides of the housing body 41 while holders 44a and 44b are located at side surfaces of the rear holders 42a and 42b, as shown in FIG. 12.
For provisionally retaining the rear holders 42a and 42b on the housing body 41, the slides 43a and 43b are moved apart (or retracted) from the housing body 41, and the holders 44a and 44b are inserted respectively into spaces obtained as a result of moving these slides, as shown in FIG. 13.
Then, the holders 44a and 44b are driven to move the rear holders 42a and 42b toward the housing body 41, and provisionally retain these rear holders 42a and 42b on the housing body 41.
The retracting movement of the slides 43a and 43b, the movement of the holders 44a and 44b in the lateral direction, and the movement of the rear holders 42a and 42b toward the housing body 41 for provisional retaining purposes are effected by air cylinders (not shown).
In the method of and the apparatus for producing the above rear holder-attached connector, the holders 44a and 44b are moved respectively into the spaces obtained as a result of moving the slides 43a and 43b apart from the housing body 41, and therefore the amount of retracting movement of the slides 43a and 43b need to be larger than the length of the holders 44a and 44b in the longitudinal direction.
Therefore, the production apparatus need to have spaces for receiving the holders 44a and 44b and the retracted slides 43a and 43b. Therefore, the production apparatus has a large size, and besides since the metal molding dies for molding purposes are used also for the above purpose, the production apparatus is complicated in construction, and there is needed a special molding machine. Thus, these problems have been encountered.
In addition, for producing many rear holder-attached connectors with the above sequential production method, it is necessary to increase the number of molding die cavities. However, there has been encountered a problem that it is difficult to mold many connectors at a time since the production apparatus becomes large in size.
The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a method of and apparatus for producing a rear holder-attached connector, in which the production apparatus is simple in construction, and can have a small-size design.
To solve the above problems and achieve the above object, according to the first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of producing a connector which includes a housing body having an undercut portion and a terminal receiving chamber, into which a connection terminal is insertable, formed in the housing body, and further includes a rear holder for retaining the connection terminal received in the terminal receiving chamber. More specifically, the method comprises the steps of providing a metal molding die comprising a fixed molding die, a movable molding die which is movable toward and away from the fixed molding die, a slide for molding the housing body, a core and a holder both of which serve to mold the rear holder, molding the housing body, after the molding step for the housing body, driving the slide so that the undercut portion of the housing body is exposed, molding the rear holder, after the molding step for the rear holder, moving the core to expose a side surface of the rear holder to be opposed to the housing body, after the moving step, moving the rear holder and the slide into a position where the rear holder is to be attached to the housing body, and moving the rear holder toward the housing body fixed to the movable molding die, so that the rear holder is attached to the housing body in a provisionally-retained condition within the metal molding die.
In the above method, the slide for molding the housing body is moved apart from the housing body after the molding of the rear holder and the housing body. However, the slide can be moved in a lateral direction together with the holder for molding the rear holder, and therefore there is no need to provide a space for receiving the holder, and the overall size of the apparatus can be reduced, and also the production process can be simplified.
Furthermore, to solve the above problems and achieve the above object, according to the second aspect of the present invention, there is provided an apparatus for producing a connector which includes a housing body having an undercut portion and a terminal receiving chamber, into which a connection terminal is insertable, formed in the housing body, and further includes a rear holder for retaining the connection terminal received in the terminal receiving chamber. More specifically, the apparatus includes a metal molding die, and the metal molding die which comprises a fixed molding die, a movable molding die which is movable toward and away from the fixed molding die, and is associated with the fixed molding die to form separate molding die cavities for respectively molding the housing body and the rear holder, a slide movable apart from the housing body after the molding of the housing body, a core drawn into the movable molding die after the molding of the rear holder so as to expose a side surface of the rear holder to be opposed to the housing body, a holder holding the rear holder, a first cylinder which moves the rear holder together with the slide and the holder, and locates the rear holder at a position where the rear holder is opposed to the housing body, and a second cylinder which moves the located rear holder toward the housing body through the holder, so that the rear holder is attached to the housing body in a provisionally-retained condition within the metal molding die.
In the above apparatus, after the rear holder and the housing body are molded, the slide is moved apart from the housing body, and the first cylinder is driven to move the holder, holding the rear holder, together with the slide, so as to move the rear holder toward the position of the housing body. Then, the second cylinder is driven to move the rear holder toward the housing body, thereby provisionally retaining the rear holder on the housing body.
Therefore, the slide and the holder are moved in unison with each other, and there is no need to provide a space for receiving the holder, and the amount of movement of the slide is small, and therefore the overall size of the apparatus can be reduced, and also the production efficiency can be enhanced.